Daylight-saving time might become all the time

Tuesday

A bill to make daylight-saving time year-round in Florida passed the state House and Senate. If Congress approves, the act will likely have a minimal effect in Gainesville.

Residents of the Sunshine State will have more time in the sun if a bill passed Tuesday in the state Legislature is approved by Gov. Rick Scott and the U.S. Congress.

House Bill 1013, the “Sunshine Protection Act,” passed in the Senate on Tuesday, 33-2, and passed in the House of Representatives on Feb. 14, 103-11. If Scott approves, the bill, which would keep Florida in daylight-saving time all year round rather than resetting clocks in the fall, goes to Congress for final approval.

Federal law currently allows states to opt out of daylight-saving time and stay in standard time, but doesn't allow year-round daylight-saving time.

Florida legislators behind the move contend it would allow later sunsets in the fall and winter and more opportunities for things like outdoor recreation and shopping.

If Congress approves it, the act will take effect July 1.

According to the U.S. Code, states that are part of more than one time zone may exempt part of the state in one time zone or the full state from daylight-saving time. Florida’s western panhandle uses Central time, and the rest of the state uses Eastern time.

The U.S. Code does not address states wishing to implement daylight-saving time year-round, which is what Florida officials want.

The bill states that, “As the ‘Sunshine State,’ Florida should be kept sunny year-round.”

Steve Phillips, director of Gainesville’s Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs, said a year-round daylight-saving time would have “minimal effects” for his department.

Many parks open at sunrise and close at sunset, he said, and programs and events usually end in the evening. If the bill passes, he and his team would evaluate what times need to change across the department.

“Our department is very user-friendly and adaptable,” he said.

David Deas, operations manager for Alachua County Public Schools’ transportation department, said morning bus routes might become more difficult if mornings stay darker in the later months of the year because of daylight-saving time.

“It’s not as easy to find locations in the dark as it is in the daytime,” he said.

Otherwise, he doesn’t see the act having much of an impact on the district. He personally likes the longer days that daylight-saving time bring.

“It’s nice to have that time in the afternoon,” he said. “But the afternoons aren’t an issue for us.”

Jonathan Miot, director of the Santa Fe College Teaching Zoo, has an 18-month-old and a 4-year-old, so he would appreciate not having to spring forward or fall back this year and have a consistent time.

“That’s a better impact with my life,” he said.

As far as the zoo’s residents, though, the act would affect the animals minimally.

“They’re great at telling time because they’re in a routine,” Miot said. Animals also use daylight to tell time.

Zookeepers are trained to add variation to the animals’ routines, like feeding schedules, to keep their days more interesting.

Hurricanes and other severe weather affect the animals’ days more than a change in human time.

“I don’t think it would be a huge impact one way or the other,” Miot said.

James Albury, director of Santa Fe College’s planetarium, would rather see Florida do away with daylight-saving time and stay in standard time year-round.

“If we’re going to do something, we should stay on standard time,” he said. Like Deas, he knows it’s trickier to drive in the morning when it’s dark outside.

Daylight-saving time — which, incidentally, begins this year on Sunday — lasts for eight months and adds about 30 or 40 minutes of daylight to the end of days in the winter in Florida.

Northern countries like Finland have up to 20 hours of daylight in summer but only four hours of daylight in the winter. On June 21, the longest day of the year, Florida has about 14 hours of daylight, Albury said.

“Here in Florida, we don’t see it as a huge extreme,” he said.

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